The measure
Seventeen measurements per foot — because no two are the same, not even yours. Your last is carved to match and kept on our shelf forever.
Hand-lasted in Sheridan, Wyoming · Est. 1987
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Boots built for a lifetime — and then some.
One craftsman. Two hundred and fourteen steps. A pair of boots measured to your feet alone, stitched to outlive the man who made them.
Numbers we refuse to round down.
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Steps per pair
0hrs
At the bench
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Personal fittings
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Pair at a time
Six chapters
How a boot is born.
The hide
Full-grain American steerhide, French calf, or something wilder. We cut every panel by hand from the tightest part of the hide.
The stitch
Up to ten rows of decorative stitching per shaft, run on a 1947 Singer. Patterns drawn for you — initials, brands, wildflowers, anything.
The last
The wet leather is pulled over your personal last by hand and left to take its shape for a full week. This is where fit becomes fact.
The peg
Soles fixed with lemonwood pegs that swell with moisture and grip tighter with age — the way it was done a century ago, because it works.
The finish
Edges burnished with beeswax, leather fed and polished by hand. Then the third fitting — and the walk out our door in boots that are only yours.
Leather worth waiting for.
Full-grain steer
The workhorse. Tight, dense, and beautiful at year ten.
Roughout
Flesh-side out. Shrugs off barbed wire and bad weather.
French calf
Dress-boot territory. Takes a shine like old money.
Exotics
Ostrich, caiman, elephant — by conversation only.
The boots.
Work · Ranch · Every day
The Stockman
Twelve-inch roughout shaft, low walking heel, double leather sole. Built to be used hard and resoled forever.
from $1,4508–10 weeksStart
Dress · Town · Trouble
The Cheyenne
French calf, ten rows of stitching, riding heel. The boot people stop you on the sidewalk to ask about.
from $2,10010–12 weeksStart
Bespoke · One of one
The Heirloom
A blank sheet of paper and a long conversation. Inlays, overlays, exotics — a commission in the fullest sense.
from $3,800By consultationStart
1987
A bench in a barn
Eli Merrick lasts his first pair by lamplight outside Sheridan, working from his grandfather's patterns.
1996
The Singer arrives
A 1947 patcher bought at a ranch auction. Every decorative row since has run through it.
2011
Two years' wait
Word gets out. The list grows to twenty-six months, and Eli takes on his first apprentice.
Today
Still one pair at a time
Four hands, one bench, no shortcuts. Around 60 pairs leave the shop each year — never more.
"I've buried two trucks and three dogs since Eli made my Stockmans. The boots are just getting good."Walt Garrison — Kaycee, Wyoming
Begin your pair
Three visits. Boots for life.
I.
The measure & the talk
An hour in the shop — seventeen measurements per foot and a long conversation about what you want these boots to do.
II.
The trial fit
Around week six you'll stand in a rough fitting boot. We adjust the last until it disappears on your foot.
III.
The walk-out
The finished pair, checked at every point. If anything's off, they go back on the bench — no charge, no debate.
Shop fittings — SheridanTue–Sat, by appointment
Ranch callsWY / MT, seasonal
Current waitApprox. 9 weeks
Call the shop — (307) 555-0119
Or write us: fittings@silversagebootmakers.com